A U-turn to save one of two primary one classes at St. George's Preparatory School should not be credited to Government, Shadow Education Minister Tim Smith claimed yesterday.

He accused Education Minister Milton Scott of making up a problem with the school being asked to find cash to build a new classroom to "save face.'' And Mr. Smith said the classroom crisis could have been avoided if the Progressive Labour Party had lived up to its pre-election pledge to listen to the people.

But last night, Sen. Scott brushed off the claims and said the matter had been resolved to everybody's satisfaction.

Mr. Smith said: "This is not a government that deserves to be credited.

"Instead, it is a government that needs to acknowledge that we live in a democracy and that the electorate are far more intelligent that the Premier and her Minister is giving them credit for.'' He was speaking after Premier Jennifer Smith, a St. George's MP, and Minister of Education Sen. Milton Scott told parents in St. George's that the axed class would be reinstated.

And two extra teachers will be provided by Government -- one starting in September -- to allow the school to have two Primary Two classes of no more than 15 pupils each.

Another new teacher will start in September next year so the school can also run two Primary Three classes.

But the trustees of the school will have to bear the cost of any future building work or alterations needed to accomodate the extra class.

St. George's parents petitioned Ms Smith on the steps of the House of Assembly a few weeks ago.

They feared that the school would eventually close due to funding based on pupil numbers following Government's announcement that one entry level class would be chopped and pupils channelled to the East End Primary School from the start of the next school year in September.

But Mr. Smith said: "I believe that the Premier and Minister of Education have both been unfairly credited for resolving a problem that was wholly avoidable in the first place.

"Second, I believe there are certain details that the Premier and Minister deliberately hid from the public in an effort to save face.'' And he described a Royal Gazette editorial describing the change of heart as a good example of Government flexibility as wrong.

Mr. Smith said: "I wholeheartedly agree that good governance must include the ability to be flexible -- however, I believe the Editor is misguided to describe the recent U-turn as a fine example of flexibility.

"Let's not forget that the PLP Government always purport to be the `people's Government'.

"If they were so close to the parents and children of the St. George's community, they could have avoided the conflict at St. George's Prep in the first place.'' And he questioned how close Government was to the grassroots when it took an 800-signature petition and a public protest to reverse the decision to shut a class.

Mr. Smith added: "Further, I understand that the Premier herself was so incensed at having to receive the petition at the House of Assembly a few weeks ago that she personally visited the homes of many of those same parents and children and chastised them for publicly criticising the PLP Government.

"I also understand that the issue of the school being asked to find money to accommodate the extra classroom was a complete fabrication by the government in an effort to save face.'' But Sen. Scott said: "It seems The Royal Gazette got it right -- decisions have been made, the facts and the parameters changed and we're moved forward.

"I don't know where Tim Smith got his facts from, but they're not accurate.

The trustees and us reached a solution. It's a dead issue.

"What's out there are the interests of the children -- once it wasn't a matter of putting further expenditure into the school, the matter was resolved.

"Mr. Smith is so out of touch -- he hasn't gotten used to being on the Opposition benches. The parents are happy, the children are happy and they're looking forward to the new school year.''